A man prayed a long time and another a short time before R. Eliezer. The latter said to his expostulating pupils, that the one was not praying longer than Moses, who had prayed 40 days and the other’s prayer was not shorter than the one sentence used by Moses on the occasion of Miriam’s illness.
The Short Prayer and the Long Prayer of Rabbi Eliezer
Gaster, Exempla no. 185; cf. Berakhot 34a